Tantalus Tales: Quenching Thirst
by Fox89
Summary: Baku's gang of thieves hunt for an unorthodox treasure...
1. The Raid

"Coffee? C'mon Cinna you gotta be kidding me."

Zidane paced up and down the deck of the Prima Vista as it glided on the mist towards Treno. Cinna was leaning against the railings, ignoring the incessant creaking and scratching his chin. "C'mon, Zidane," he said, "It's a really rare coffee! It's a hell of a treasure."

"...Whatever. So what's the plan"  
"The ship will land just outside Treno. Me and the Boss are gonna go pick up some stuff from the accessory place whist you and Blank break into the Noble's house"  
"Who is this Noble?" Zidane asked.  
"She's the daughter of Baron Harris."

Zidane stoped pacing and looked up interested. "Hey..." he said, "Is this girl cute or what"  
Cinna sighed, "You've got a one track mind. Look, you're there to pick up a rare coffee, not a date, got it"  
"You're just jealous. I'm not suprised either"  
"Hey! I wash every day you know!"

Zidane laughed and pushed Cinna playfully. At that moment the door tot he deck opened and Blank stepped out, sword in hand. "Hey. We're about to land. You ready Zidane?"

Zidane checked his daggers were sheathed and nodded. "Let's mosey."

The Prima Vista decended through the mist and touched down with a bump a few hundred metres from the gates of Treno. The crew of Tantalus alighted and made their way across to the dark city, which was bustling with activity. Upon entering, Baku and Cinna headed down to the west side of the city to find their accesories, whilst Blank and Zidane went east. After a few minutes walking, they moved off the street and began to trapse through the alleys. Before long Zidane put his hand on Blank's shoulder. "This is the place," he said. The building was ageing, and great cracks were beginning to appear as the cement gradually fell away. A web of ivy wove its way up the wall, passing a dust covered window.

The ivy held strong as Zidane tugged at it, so he began his assent. His tail swung rhythmically from left to right like a pendulum, as he moved gracefully up to the window. He peered in through the dust as Blank struggled behind him, and saw nothing but boxes and a few items. He reached over and pushed the frame up without any particular difficulty and clambered in. Zidane's eyed needed a minute to adjust to the dark, by which time Blank had fallen through the gap after him. "Maybe it's here...let's look around."

"Nah," said Zidane, "It's coffee, it'll be in the kitchen." He glanced over to the door on the otherside of the room and saw a ray of light shining through the crack. "Lights on...they're home." Zidane crept towards the door and opened it an inch. Through the gap he could see a deserted landing, with a bedroom just at the top of a wooden staircase that led down. "You're not going down there?" said Blank.

"Hey, we gotta. Besides, what if this girl's cute? I might even get me a date"  
"You're pathetic you know that? I'll look around this room, just in case."

Blank went back to the piles of boxes and began to sort through, occasionally pocketing something interesting. Zidane drew his daggers and pushed the door open, glancing around as he did so. The top floor was clear. He reached the top of the stairs and began to descend, crouching low so he could see through the rail. At the bottom of the stairs there was a hallway, with the front door directly in front of the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, Zidane saw that there were three rooms on this level - the living room, dining room, and kitchen. And there, on top of a workbench in the middle of the kitchen, lay Cinna's coffee. Unfortunatly, the three nobles seated around that bench would prove a difficuly. Only one of those was female, with long auburn hair and hazel green eyes. She was wearing a deep blue dress and a tiara sat neatly on her head. Zidane had to admit, she was cute.

One of the male nobles had his back turned to Zidane, but as he straightened his coat the thief could easily make out a sheathed sword. The man looked young and athletic, and Zidane didn't really want to take him on. On the other hand...he couldn't see any other way. Making up his mind, Zidane ducked his head low and charged into the kitchen. The woman screamed as Zidane somersaulted over the athletic man, and grabbing the coffee jar as he landed on the bench. There was a scraping of chairs as the men stood - both with swords, but Zidane was on the ground again on the otherside of the bench by the time they swung. The athletic man Zidane had spotted first stood by the kitchen door, whilst the other one - a large man with curly blonde hair and a ridiculous moustache - advanced.

As he swung his sword Zidane dropped to the ground, spinning and extending a leg. The man was swept of his feet and landed heavily on his back. Zidane was already up and running. He vaulted over the table and turned his body left to avoid the second man's sword. He kicked out but the man was too fast and parried Zidane's leg. He swung again but Zidane blocked the strike with his dagger. The sword retacted once more and this time stabbed at Zidane's chest, but he somersaulted again, his face inches away from the blade. His feet landed on top of the sword and his weight pushed it down. As the blade embedded in the ground, Zidane backflipped, extending a leg and catching the suprised noble on the chin, knocking him unconcious. As he landed Zidane reached down and took his purse, before sprinting up the stairs again. "Let's move it Blank!" he called as he burst through the door. Blank nodded and they jumped out the window, landing heavily on the ground. They ran back towards the city gates, and Blank called forward to Zidane.

"Hey, where you the cause of all that commotion back there"  
"Yup!" Zidane called back.  
"Doesn't suprise me..." muttered Blank. 


	2. Shopping in Lindblum

Zidane looked down at the mug in distaste at the slush Cinna had made for him. He glanced to his right, where Marcus was prodding his with his blade. Cinna sat expectantly across the table. "Well?" he said impatiently, "Arn't ya gonna drink it?" 

"Sorry man," said Marcus, "But I don't trust any drink that squirms when you poke it.  
"It's _exotic_!" explained Cinna, apparantly thinking this information would put the men's minds at ease. Zidane took a deep breath and, gathering all his strength, throwing away his common sense and bracing himself for the worst...took a swig. He immediatly regreted it and spat the foul stuff out. "Geez, Cinna!" he cried, "People _drink_ this stuff?"

"It's _rich_ people's coffee!" said Cinna, "If it taste's bad it's valuable! Why do you think caviar's so popular?"  
"Urgh", said Marcus, trying his, "If this is what you drink when you're rich, I'll live in the gutter thanks."

Cinna gave him a foul look, and went about picking the chunks out of his own mug. Zidane couldn't believe he'd put his neck on the line for this stuff. He hoped there were others out there as stupid as Cinna, so they could make some money out of it. He made his excuses and left to go find Blank, who was probably sorting out the "interesting" things he pocketed from the raid. He found him in the storage room, hastily stuffing an item into his pocket as he saw Zidane come in. "Hey, Blank," Zidane said.

"Hey"  
"What's that item?"  
Blank put on a confused look. "Er..what item?"  
"The one you just put in your pocket."

Blank patted himself down and shrugged. Zidane rolled his eyes. Blank was always excellent on the stage, but in real life he was a poor actor. Zidane turned to leave but was struck with a thought. "Hey, Blank," he started, "Cinna's pouring out that coffee we swiped. Why don't you go try some? It's excellent."

"Really?" Blank said, "You're not usually much of a coffee drinker..."  
"I know," replied Zidane, "But this stuff's good! I tell ya, bein' rich has its advantages."

Blank trotted out, somewhat excited, leaving Zidane to snigger for a minute. They were still a few minutes away from Lindblum, so he decided to wander around the ship for a while, staying well away from where Blank would be enjoying his coffee. After a few minutes he heard a sound above him.

"AA-CHOO!"

Zidane smiled and wandered up the spiral staircase. "Hey, Boss," he said as he spotted Baku standing next to Gennaro at the wheel. "A'right, Zidane?" Baku asked. "Cinna get ya to try that coffee?"

"Yeah"  
"You throw up? I sure as hell did. He's gettin' a beatin' next time he tries summat like that."

Zidane laughed. Baku scratched his head. "Listen, Zidane. I gotta go see Cid when we get back to Lindblum"  
"What for?" Zidane asked.

"Dunno," came the reply, "He didn't say. Sounds important though, so I want ya to pick up some supplies from 'round town while am at the castle. Awright?"  
"Yeah, no problem boss. You gonna give me some gil?"

Baku leaned back roared with laughter. "BWA-HA-HA-HA! Good one, Zidane!" He walked away, chuckling. As he did so, Zidane felt a thump telling him the Prima Vista had docked safetly back in Lindblum. Blank, Marcus, and Cinna headed back to the Theatre district, whilst Zidane caught the next cab to the business district. The streets were bustling as usual, with hordes of people beginning their preperations for the Festival of the Hunt. Zidane's arm darted out and snatched a gyshal pickle from beneath the unseeing eye of the old woman, which he chewed on his way to the weapons shop. As expected, men were queing out the door, trying to buy their hunt weapons before the prices went up. What they didn't notice was that the shopkeeper raised his prices a good three months before the festival, but bumped them up another thousand gil two days before the hunt, to trick the suckers into thinking they were getting a bargain went they got their new equipment a week before the main event. Zidane smiled as he thought about this - the best thieves are the ones who don't do anything criminal.

Deciding not to fight the crowd, he headed over to the item shop to pick himself up some sleeping weed. He used the stuff to help him get some shut-eye when Baku had one of his sneezing fits. He spotted the saleswoman, Alice, carrying the box out the stock room. "Alice!" Zidane called.

"Zidane!" Alice excalimed, looking over to him, "How are you? You havn't been here in a while."  
"I know, sorry babe. We've been running back and forth to Treno for a couple of months."  
"When are you gonna take me on that airship cruise?"  
"Huh?"

This caught Zidane off gaurd. He didn't remeber offering to take her on an airship cruise. Hadn't he told Alice they'd go exploring the outer continent together? No...no that was Chantelle. That's right. He HAD talked to Alice about an airship cruise.

"Tell ya what," he said, thinking on his feet, "We'll go if I win the festival."  
Alice beamed. "Oooh! You're competing?"  
"If it means a date with you, I will..."  
By now she was almost speechless as she leaned a little closer to Zidane. "You...um...all ready for the beasts then?"  
"Actually," Zidane said, "I came round to buy some sleeping weed. I've had a bit of insomnia and I wanna rest up a bit before the Hunt. How much for a couple of pounds?"

Alice reached below the desk and pulled out a handful of the herb, but held out her hand to stop Zidane as he reached for his money. "Don't you dare, sweety, this is on me."

"Really?"  
"Of course! You just make sure you win that tournament!"  
Zidane smiled softly at her. "Thanks to you, I've got a good chance."

He walked - no - he _strutted_ out the store feeling extremely pleased with himself. The best thieves are the ones who don't do anything criminal.


End file.
